Green beer, shamrock-painted faces, green trousers and truckloads of corned beef and cabbage might scare the bejesus out of some of the people who actually live in Ireland, but in the United States, this is how we celebrate what Ireland’s Roman Catholics consider a holy day. That doesn’t mean the American St. Patrick’s Day is unholy. Irish Fest on Flagler, for instance, will kick off its Sunday schedule with a Gaelic mass. But that will be just a prelude to the beer-swilling, corned-beef-eating and mad-jigging that will carry us through next week. Consider this list of St. Patrick’s Day parties your guide to the madness. Now go forth, drink Guinness and beware of little old men in green pants and shiny shamrock necklaces.

This is one event that folks look forward to all year long. More than 650 citizens converged upon the Halecrest Swim and Tennis Club in Costa Mesa last week to sample "Wild and Crazy" tacos prepared by 28 local star chefs. It was the 18th annual Share Our...

Competitive races for school board seats are taking shape in South Pasadena, San Marino and at Pasadena City College.
In South Pasadena, where two seats will be at stake on Nov. 8, board incumbents Joseph Loo and Richard Sonner will run for reelection...

From less than $1 million to $25 million or more, the amount of money it takes to get your name on a building at one of Connecticut's institutions varies greatly.
Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive now running for U.S. Senate, gave Sacred...

In terms of its size and composition, Harper's Choice isn't all that different from other villages in Columbia.
What sets it apart from other places in town is its location: The Village of Harper's Choice was built on the first tract purchased to make up...

William Lane and John Martin shared Hood’s goaltending duties last year with Lane starting in nine games and Martin starting the other seven.
The anticipated competition to start in 2012 between the pair of juniors never materialized, however, as Martin, who registered a 10.01 goals-against average and a .581 save percentage, was ruled academically ineligible for the season.
That opens the door for Lane to open the season as the undisputed starter – although that doesn’t necessarily...

Another senior guard has popped up on the Maryland men's basketball program's radar.
According to Rivals.com's Jerry Meyer, Downer's Grove (Ill.) South shooting guard Jerron Wilbut picked up a Memphis offer, while Maryland, Dayton, Nebraska, Oregon and Virginia Tech are "all in too."
Wilbut is a three-star prospect and the No. 147 prospect nationally, according to Rivals.com. Scout.com's John Martin reported that Wilbut was thought to be "headed for JUCO" going into his senior season, but major strides...

Charged with being all down-to-earth and accessible, the first thing doctors John Martin and Briana Walton did was lose the white coats. Then they got down to business.
"I'm really very surprised that so many people came out," said a smiling Martin. "Absolutely," nodded a smiling Walton.
And thus it went Tuesday evening at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, as the hospital unveiled its monthly "DocsTalk" gatherings. Determined to make these informal health-information sessions as entertaining and...

John Martin Photos

It was just one headline among many of its kind in The Baltimore Sun during the 1980s and 1990s: "Baltimore loses round to Va."
The 1995 article noted that the shipping giant Maersk Lines was ending its service between South America and the port of Baltimore, shifting its ships to Norfolk, Baltimore's chief Mid-Atlantic rival. During those decades, the port of Baltimore lost a lot of rounds, and few months went by without an article about a business deserting the city for the dynamic powerhouse to the...

Sometimes a single image just won't do. Printmakers often work in a series, enabling them to literally explore variations with their subject matter and technique.
The Baltimore Museum of Art exhibit "Print By Print: Series from Durer to Lichtenstein" showcases such print series done between the 15th century and the present day. Whether lined up along the wall or arranged in grids, the 300 exhibited prints will keep your eyes moving along.
The serial format is especially appropriate for printmakers who...

Incumbents breezed to victory in all three contested races for seats on the Pasadena City College Board of Trustees Tuesday night.
Former Pasadena Mayor William Thomson, who will serve his second term on the board, outpaced political activist M.A.C. Enriquez-Marquez 85% to 15%. Longtime PCC board members Jeanette Mann and John Martin enjoyed roughly 2-1 margins of victory over their respective rivals, Altadena conservative Brian Fuller and Los Angeles City College instructor Chris Cofer.
Mann,...